This manual provides the materials needed to deliver a basic training in access and benefit sharing (ABS) of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge as provided for under the Convention on Biological Diversity. The background, key components and procedures, and obligations, rights, and responsibilities of the different actors involved are presented in twenty sessions, supplemented by extensive resource materials and sources for further study. The manual is intended to be used for training trainers, who can then multiply the learning across the region, but can also be used to provide basic knowledge to graduate students of related disciplines. We hope that it will help raise awareness about the ABS regime among the policy makers, development workers, community organisations, and individuals involved in the ABS processRead More

Mountains offer ideal conditions for the development of hydropower, but the uneven distribution of benefits from project development often create friction and development disputes between communities and project developers. How can hydropower projects be designed and implemented in such a way that affected communities derive benefits beyond mere compensation and mitigation? Is there any evidence that benefits can be shared fairly and equitably with mountain communities? These question are particularly important for Nepal, which has an estimated technically and conomicallyfeasible hydropower potential of over 40,000 MW, of which only a fraction has been developed so far. The purpose of this report is to document the various facets of benefit-sharing practices in Nepal. In doing so, this report develops a comprehensive typology of the benefit-sharing mechanisms that have evolved in Nepal over the last four decades and critically analyses each of these mechanisms in terms of what works and what doesn’t and what can be done to fine tune these mechanisms to better suit mountain communitiesRead More

The Annual Report 2015 gives a brief overview of ICIMOD’s activities over the past year. It presents progress and impacts across the broad areas of policy engagement, mountain innovations and community practices, capacity building, knowledge generation and use, facilitating regional cooperation, and regional and global outreach, as well as a special section on ICIMOD’s 2015 Gorkha Earthquake Response.

The Centre’s audited financial report is also included in the report to ensure that ICIMOD maintains fiscal accountability and transparency

The Asia Pacific Youth Forum and Training Workshop 2014 was organized in Kathmandu by ICIMOD through its Asia Pacific Mountain Network; APMN - http://www.icimod.org/apmn, in partnership with the Asia Pacific Adaptation Network; APAN - http://www.apan-gan.net/. The event was made possible through generous support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation; SDC under its Sustainable Mountain Development for Global Collaboration; SMD4GC. Initiated in 2010, ICIMOD’s youth forums bring youth from mountainous countries together to discuss policy needs and, thus, influence the Mountain Agenda at the global level.

During the four-day event, 47 participants from the Asia Pacific region interacted with high-level bureaucrats, youth leaders, researchers, thought process leaders, and tech innovators from the region. They discussed climate change from multiple perspectives, relating it to government policy, civil society, and international instruments such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; UNFCCC. They gained first-hand knowledge about ICIMOD’s current research on climate change adaptation and observed green technologies housed at the ICIMOD Knowledge Park at Godavari. In addition, they visited the nearby Kavre District to observe local adaptation measures for water conservation in the middle hills, where ICIMOD is conducting action research in collaboration with the Nepal Water Conservation Foundation; NWCF under its Koshi Basin Programme

The inception workshop for transboundary cooperation in the Karakoram-Pamir Landscape (KPL) was held from 23 to 24 January 2013 in Islamabad, Pakistan to develop a framework for long-term programmatic action and begin the process of developing the framework for regional cooperation between China and Pakistan. In his welcome address, Dr David Molden, Director General of ICIMOD, stressed the importance of transboundary cooperation for sustainable management and development of the KPL. During the workshop, Dr Wu Ning, Ecosystem Services Theme Leader, presented an overview of ICIMOD's approach to transboundary landscape conservation. The workshop, which was attended by partners from Pakistan and China, gave participants an opportunity to share relevant information and prepare a roadmap for future activities in the KPL. Through national stakeholder presentations and group discussions, current gaps and challenges in the KPL were identified and further recommendations were made for major actions in the short and long termRead More

Poverty eradication remains one of the greatest challenges facing the world today and is a prerequisite for sustainable development. However, despite global poverty eradication efforts, over 1 billion people -- one in five people on this planet - live in extreme poverty. One in seven is undernourished, of which a significant proportion are in Asia.

In the mountainous regions of the Hindu Kush Himalayas (HKH), the poverty rate is on average 5% higher than the rate for the countries as a whole. The determinants of poverty also differ considerably. In particular, parameters such as lower access to basic amenities, poor physical access, and higher dependency rates are more prominent in the mountains.

Mountain communities have a high degree of self-reliance and a rich tradition of practices to avert risks. However, increasing uncertainties, inadequate and insecure access to resources, technology and finance, a rapidly degrading natural resource base, and insufficient integration into value chains and markets severely compromise their capacities to effectively deal with change and take advantage of emerging opportunities to pull themselves out of poverty.

There is an urgent need to support the adaptation abilities of vulnerable mountain households, communities, and ecosystems and enhance their resilience focusing specifically on the challenges confronting mountain women and disadvantaged groups. Mountain specific policies and development interventions to address the needs of the people in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region are still inadequate, primarily because of insufficient knowledge.

The Conference aims to compile updated knowledge on the contours of poverty and enablers of a sustainable development approach for the HKH and thereby, provide inputs specific to the mountain context that can contribute to the formulation of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. The Conference also proposes to set the tone for forging and strengthening regional partnerships for sustainable mountain development

This paper looks at the progress made in the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in the eight countries of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region using the national reports to the CBD as the primary source. The draft paper was presented for comment at side events during the Fourteenth Meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical, and Technological Advice in Nairobi, Kenya, and the Tenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD in Nagoya, Japan in 2010. The paper concludes that all the Hindu Kush-Himalayan countries are making efforts to prioritise conservation, but that they are at different stages of CBD implementation. Progressive conservation policies and legislation for management of biological resources in a participatory way have been developed which provide a strong basis for supporting CBD implementation in the regionRead More